Thursday, May 20, 2010

Shooting at Franklin and Lincoln - UPDATE

Note: this message appeared as a comment in the previous post, but I felt it deserved to be reproduced here. I have no way of verifying it, but I want to believe that someone wouldn't make up such a thing. "the man that was murdered wasnt a drug dealer nor was he a violent person he was a father of a 4year old daughter he was MY BROTHER, he was gunned down senselessly and cowardly while on his way to pick me up so we could make the final payment on my mothers tombstone, now i have the burden of adding his name to that tombstone burying him and explaining to my 4year old niece that her father isnt coming to pick her up ever again..." - Nigel Glover

9 comments:

I am sad for the loss, but don't tell me he wasn't doing anything other than stopping at the deli! To be shot by a known drug dealer means that he was either buying or owed money for drugs to someone. The violence and the drug dealing bull needs to go!

Honestly, even if this shooting is set aside as non-drug related, that corner and Shorey's deli is a drug dealing mecca. This is a location where drugs are openly dealt within and without the deli in full view of everyone. Even if the people dealing or buying drugs aren't necessarily agressive or rude to passersby (I've never had problems with anyone there) the fact that they are threatening public safety through their activities should at least be enough for Shoreys to do something, as they are entitled to do as the owners of that business. But they don't. Blame and pressure needs to be put on the Shorey's crew as well, because Frankly (some pun intended) they obviously don't give a shit about the neighborhood enough to discrouage the kind of activity that gets people shot.

I am very sorry for the brother and the family of the man killed. I don't know how the victim was involved with that corner, I don't know all of what drug dealing and gang activity is on that corner either, however, I don't think any of that matters right now. A man died, people lost a loved one, brother and father and focusing on why he was on the corner is judgmental and removes yourself from the community.

If we are trying to build a neighborhood together making judgments about the group of men on the corner instead of reaching out to the victim's family and feeling fear instead of sadness seems to be missing the point.

It's horrible that there was a violent incident and someone lost their life.

But to claim that the victim was just a regular person walking down the street is ridiculous. The victim was a gang member (note the red shirt, red candles, and red text on the signs at the memorial where the victim was murdered - it's not just a coincidence) and was involved in the drug trade in the area. That kind of activity puts EVERYONE in danger. The main focus should be to get the gang and drug activity cleaned up.

Can someone please show me anything other than anecdotes about red shirts, or utter speculation that he was actually in a gang? How do you know that its a bloods symbol and not the man's favorite color? Maybe he was from Trinidad, and its some island pride thing? There's been nothing published that's believable to say either way.

To claim he could have been and unlucky "regular" person walking down the street is just as based in the facts as claiming he was a gang member.

Gangs are an issue in this neighborhood, but myopically focusing on this shooting as gang violence allows you to write off all of the other real dangers in the neighborhood. Gang violence is not the only problem. Furthermore, gang violence is a problem with deep roots in many things outside of drugs. What about the poverty? What about the lack of opportunity?

Just because you get spooked by seeing dealers and gang members around doesn't make that the most dangerous thing in Crown Heights. By the numbers that would be the cars on Eastern Parkway which have taken far more of our neighbors than gang violence in the last decade.

Gangs are certainly part of the mix, just don't get so caught up in talking about it that you think its the silver bullet for making Crown Heights a safer place.